Robert J. Regalbuto

A good resource for those who live in, or frequently visit the New England area, enjoy history, art, architecture and/or old or interesting properties. Each entry is a page, sometimes two if a picture is included. The text is informative in tone, and gives a brief summary of the property, it's history and any special significance. However, it should be noted that it is not exhaustive. Not included, for example, are the "Castle in the Clouds" (the Lucknow Estate, built in 1913/4 in the Arts & show more Crafts style), and the Franklin Pierce homestead, both in NH, the John Ward House in Salem, MA (1684, notable for being one of the least altered 17th century houses) and Ventfort Hall and Gilded Age Museum in Lenox, MA just up the road from Wharton's "The Mount." Still, there is more than enough locations to keep one busy for a long, long time. I think it could be improved by suggesting things; such as, if you are visiting any one of the houses in Concord, MA (Alcott, Hawthorne or Emerson) you could include a slight detour to Sleepy Hollow cemetery and see their gravesites (not handicapped accessible though), or that Fruitlands in Harvard, MA has a lovely restaurant on site, so you could make a day of seeing the farmhouse, the art museum, the Native American museum and Shaker house, all on the same property. But then, perhaps it would make the book too big to keep handy.... show less

In A Guide to Monastic Guest Houses, Robert J. Regalbuto offers a wide sampling of accommodations provided by many different Christian traditions in 33 states and 7 Canadian provinces. For each of the 80 entries in the book, Regalbuto includes useful information about the history of the establishment, meals and lodging, nearby points of interest, directions, and how much to pay--or donate